We spent our last full day at Deadrock Ranch on an
all-day cattle drive. The ranch raises about 1,000 cows. Each
cow requires 2 acres of grass every two weeks. The ranch has
18,000 acres, so every two weeks, the cows have to be rounded up
and moved from pasture to pasture (about two miles...) This is
wooded rough country, so you can't use motorized vehicles.
Hence, everything is done on horseback.

This photo shows the horses in the corral having their
breakfast waiting to go to work.

Movin' Them DogiesWell, we walked behind the cows...

My partner rode Junior, the spirited horse, and I went out on
Nick
--- "The Most Cynical Horse in the World". The
wranglers and the border collies did most of the work. She
got involved in the roundup while Nick and I did a stately walk
behind the cows. I can say with good conscience that no cows got
away from us, mainly because they were moving ahead of us at a
MUCH faster rate. When one of the yearlings would stray, a
border collie would run up and give him a good bite on the leg.
The older cows have learned to listen to the dogs' barking.

The Chuck WagonGabby Hayes was not
there...

We stopped for lunch at a real honest to goodness Chuck Wagon
while another crew moved a herd of sheep into the pasture we had
just vacated. The cows eat the grass and the sheep eat the weeds
that the cows won't eat. Thus, the grass grows again and doesn't
get choked out by weeds. The shepherds worked on foot with
bigger dogs. One of the sheep dogs was a Great Pyrenees who
would actually jump on the back of a reluctant animal to keep it
going.

The WranglersA great bunch...

During lunch, the wranglers did rope tricks. (One of the lady
wranglers is from Munich where she specialized in Dressage before
she got into ranching...)

Then they asked us about "those fancy dance steps"
that they had been hearing about. So, we did a couple of flips
and a lockup for them. Every interest activity has its
performance aspects. We switched and I made a fool of myself
with a rope.

Most of us spent the afternoon rounding up more cows --- Nick
"The Lounge Horse" spent a large part of the afternoon
complaining. On the other
hand, I got back to the corral in one piece although Nick prefers
to leap over streams rather than get his feet wet. That part was
a bit disorienting.

The RodeoAt the Corral..

After the cattle drive, we got a short break and then it was
time for the "Guest Rodeo". Having pushed my luck to
extremes, I declined --- but my partner got into things in a big
way!
Here she stands, ready to go into the arena

With the CowMove Them Dogies...

The first event was the "Team Roundup". Briefly, a
team of three riders had three minutes to herd three yearlings
into a small pen. This was not as easy as it seems. First, it
is nearly impossible to separate a cow from the herd. Next, the
things are shiftier than an NBA point guard --- they can really
move when they want to. Finally, this is new to the guests, but
the cows have done it several times before --- and they got
branded when they were put in the pen! Accordingly, the cows
don't want to do this.

Andy, the wrangler, gave us a short lesson on how a horse is
trained for work with cattle. In order to make the short turns
that are necessary to outmaneuver the cow, the Horse must be
taught to bend in the middle --- and this is done by teaching the
horse to cross his back legs, one over the other. As Andy
demonstrated this, I was amazed by how much the exercise looked
like a Lindy Hop "Scissor Step"

My partner's team was successful in getting one cow into the
pen
and I was very proud of her as she bravely faced up to the herd
and the individual cows.

The Water RelayTry not to spill any!

The second event was the Water Relay. In this, teams of four
riders had to carry a glass of water the length of the corral
(about 40 yards) at full gallop and then pour what was left into
a cup held by the next member of the team. The event was judged
on both total elapsed time and the quantity of water that
remained in the glass at the end of the event. My partner's team
did
not win.

Cold SmokeA great band!

At the end of the day, We hit the hot tub again to
ward off the effects of riding. It was a good thing because our
finale party had a very hot band named Cold Smoke. I wore
my zoot suit to the party. Strangely, with all the colorful
Western dress wear, it didn't stand out that much. Having
finally adapted to the altitude, we were able to dance well into
the night. Of all things, the dance floor was nearly
perfect.

The Security StaffThe G-men

This is a photo of the Security Staff from the ranch. Most of
them are ex FBI men and they did a great job. One of them was
from Philadelphia and we exchanged memories of Bandstand.
Another was from Pittsburgh, and almost all of them had spent
some time in DC.

The StaffA really Fun Bunch

This is the Ranch staff --- they went out of their way to make
sure that we had a good time. They are really a great bunch and
we miss them already!

The GangA fine bunch of Americans

Here is a group photo of all our fellow guests who hail from
all parts of the country. As best we remember, they are: